Towner on fast track to Division I school

El Dorado's Cassidy Towner, who last year fell just short of a trip to the CIF cross country and track state championships, has big plans for her senior season. MIKE GREENE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Then and now

Cassidy Towner has shown marked improvement from 2012 to 2013. Her year-to-year improvement:

2012 Clovis Invitational, Woodward Park: - 18:52,

2013 Clovis Invitational, Woodward Park: - 18:30

2012 Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, Costa Mesa: - 17:48

2013 Woodbridge Cross Country Classic, Costa Mesa: - 17:18

2012 OC Cross Country Championships, Foothill High: - 18:00

2013 OC Cross Country Championships, Foothill High: - 17:32

Cassidy Towner started playing soccer at 3. Then a track coach convinced her to try running high school cross country.

She competed in soccer and cross country in the fall of her freshman year at El Dorado High before she took a step back and realized she wanted to get serious about running.

“Freshman year I had a decent year and I just decided that I’d stick with it and I ended up dropping soccer,” said Towner, now a senior at El Dorado. “That really helped me, and then I started doing it year round. And then I started learning how my body worked and how hard to push myself.”

The decision to run has continued to pay huge dividends for Towner, who has been heavily courted by Division I schools for track and cross country. She finished fifth in the girls sweepstakes race at the Orange County Cross Country Championships at Foothill High School on Oct. 18 and has been named by ocvarsity.com as Player of the Week twice this fall.

Her goal is to win the Century League girls championship and – if her team doesn’t qualify – place well enough individually in the California Interscholastic Federation cross country state preliminary meet to make it to the state championship. It’s a goal that, five years ago, would never have occurred to her.

“I didn’t even know what cross country was in middle school,” she said, laughing.

The week before the O.C. championships, she raced her personal best on Foothill High’s course, finishing in 17:48. When she placed fifth at the championships, she beat that by 16 seconds.

“I was really happy with my time,” Towner. “I’m really familiar with it because each year I run that course twice a year. I really like the course because it has a little bit of hills, but it’s still pretty flat.”

It was one of the faster paces she’s run with this season, but Towner had raced against many of the girls before and knew their strategies. And after three years experience, she knew what her body could handle.

“I could tell myself that even though I’m hurting you just have to keep yourself going,” Towner said. “I knew from (training) in practice that I could hold it.”

Towner was already making waves in the track and cross country circles. Last year, she fell just shy of a bid to the state championship race. But her Top 20 finish in the state preliminary race as a junior made her that much more determined this season. A determination that is readily apparent, her coaches say.

“She has no fear of anybody,” said Greg Beckman, El Dorado cross country and track coach. “She’s going to put 100percent out there on the course or on the track. She’s not going to lay down for anybody. That’s probably the biggest thing that I love about Cassidy.”

A broken collarbone in February sidelined Towner for six weeks before track season. But determined to make it back for the season, she trained on a bike while injured, and ran in her first meet just seven weeks after the injury. At the end of the season, she qualified individually as an alternate for state championships in the 1600 meter.

She was disappointed, knowing that without that six-week setback, she could have run in states. But just to make it was astounding, her coaches said.

“That was one of the most phenomenal things that I’ve ever seen as a coach,” Beckman said. “She was out a month and a half, two months before she even had a meet for track.”

Towner’s relentless work ethic did not go unnoticed by her teammates, many of whom now see her as a quiet leader.

“She might not be the one to speak up, but she leads with her actions,” said Kimmie Gruff, her teammate and close friend. “That was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve seen her go through as a person and as an athlete because she started the season three weeks behind everybody else, but she still managed to (personal record). It was crazy watching how hard she worked everyday in speed workouts.”

With a month of cross country and a full track season still ahead of her, Towner isn’t disclosing what schools she has talked to, although she does hope to stay in Southern California. Regardless of where she ends up, Beckman is confident in Towner’s future.

She didn’t quit soccer for nothing, after all.

“I think she’s going to do great, at any D-1 school,” Beckman said. “She’s ready to take it to the next level, she has everything that you need, she has the desire, in terms of the work ethic, in terms of competition, she’s not afraid of anybody and she doesn’t make excuses.”

El Dorado's Cassidy Towner, who last year fell just short of a trip to the CIF cross country and track state championships, has big plans for her senior season. MIKE GREENE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
El Dorado's Cassidy Towner approaches the finish line during a Century League cross country meet on October 2. She finished fifth at the OC cross country championships on Oct. 18, setting a personal record at Foothill High of 17:32. MIKE GREENE, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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